My Secret Lover
by TheAnimeFicWriter
Summary: Muse is on the rise, but something has been going on amongst their fans that they are completely confused about. See if our lovely ladies can figure out how to solve this odd turn of events
1. Chapter 1

My Secret Lover

Chapter 1

The Question

**Note:** So here's another new Love Live story for you guys. I apologize if it has seemed quite a long time since my last one, but I've been very busy. Putting that aside, this ship, for some reason, is probably my second favorite. I haven't experimented with this ever so this will definitely be interesting. I hope you all enjoy it.

Muse has been on the rise. Ever since their first reveal, audiences everywhere have been loving them. Despite their fallout before their first Love Live performance, people still want to see them and they are constantly working to please their fans.

However, something interesting has been developing during the course of their success. Their fans have been putting them into couples, completely unknown to the members of Muse. This has caused such an uproar for them that even the slightest thing could cause their fans to go crazy. They're unsure of what to do or how to handle it, but they do know that in this situation, their fans hold the power over them. For the couples that their fans have assigned, things aren't completely good and sound for them.

The crowds are always dying to see Maki and Nico together. Everyone is saying that they are the canon couple. Apparently, information got out that they're a thing. Now, everywhere they go, the crowds demand to see something from them. The members of Muse were even surprised because they didn't even know the two of them were a thing. They haven't come out yet, but Maki and Nico are definitely a thing.

The couple that everyone relies on Kotori and Umi. They all saw that these two girls are fit for each other and they look the best on stage. This is where things get interesting. Kotori and Umi aren't a thing. They're close friends, but they could never be a couple, even to simply satisfy their crowd's desires. On the other hand, Umi has her heart set on someone else, but with all of this madness going on, she doesn't know if she could be honest with her heart.

The cutest couple is Eli and Nozomi. No matter if it's on stage or out in public, these two girls are always seen as lovers to their fans. Similarly, Eli and Nozomi aren't an actual couple. However, what's more interesting is how they think of each other. Eli sees Nozomi as her older sister. She cares for her, but she could never think of her as her girlfriend. Nozomi, on the other hand, has some feelings for Eli. Since she's known her for so long, she feels that she knows her the most and can understand her the best. Unfortunately, the crowd thinks otherwise.

Sadly, Rin and Hanayo don't get a lot of attention. The crowds definitely love them and has given them the title of most likely to stay together forever, but they simply can't compete with the other couples. On the same page, they don't even put Honoka into this mess of things. They believe that she is the ultimate leader who doesn't need someone else which makes her kind of an afterthought.

The problem with this is that their personal lives have started to become complicated. For Kotori, Umi, Eli, and Nozomi, they have to play the part because if they don't, their popularity will fall. Even the fans at school put the girls into couples and they occasionally overhear arguments over who is better with who. Due to this behavior in their fans, it also affects how they are placed when they performed. When they are in the best positions, the crowds go ballistic, but when one or two girls are in weird places, everything turns to chaos.

For the other five girls, it's not a big problem. They're able to be more relaxed about the whole situation. Aside from Honoka, their actually kind of happy that their fans approve of them being a couple.

Now, Eli and Umi are planning out their next performance. They decided to meet a café to discuss what they should do. Unfortunately, people know who they are and giving them dirty looks as they discuss their plans.

"Ugh, do we have to talk here?"

"Why? Is there a problem?"

"No, it's just that people are giving us mean looks and I don't like."

"Come on Eli, don't worry about it so much. Anyway, what should we do for our next show?"

"What do you mean? Like, adhere to our fan's wishes?" Umi looked up at Eli.

"Okay, I know that that's a big thing with our group now, but we can't always go with what they want. We have to go with what is comfortable sometimes."

"But doesn't it frighten you about what might happen?" All of a sudden, Umi grabbed Eli's hand. Eli's face turned red and everyone else in the café started to chat amongst themselves. "Umi-chan, we can't do that here."

"Whatever. Let them think what they want. We're only doing this to save our school, right?" Eli nodded her head. "So there's no concern. It's not like we're going to be professionals or anything."

"I know, it's just…" Before she could finish her statement, a couple of little girls walked up to them with notepads and pens and smiles on their faces.

"Um, excuse us, but can we get your autographs?" Eli and Umi smiled back at them.

"Of course." They took the notepad and pen from them and started to sign when the little girls made some interesting requests.

"Can you write that it's from Kotori and Umi with a heart?"

"And can you write Eli x Nozomi on mine?" They suddenly stopped writing. It took them a second to realize that this shipping crisis was affecting everyone, even their younger fans. However, they didn't want to disappoint these little girls so they completed their requests and handed them back their belongings.

"There you go." The girls grabbed their things and stood there with big eyes.

"Um, where's Nozomi?" Eli's eyes shot wide open.

"And what about Kotori? Where's she?" Umi was pushed into a corner. They couldn't believe that these little girls were asking such intense questions about a topic that they were pretty sure that they didn't really understand. Eli and Umi looked at each other with much concern before coming up with the best answers that they could.

"Uh, haha, well, Kotori is feeling a little sick today so I told her to stay home and rest."

"Yeah, and Nozomi is working right now so I don't want to bother her." The little girls gave them pouty looks before walking off with their signed notepads. When they finally disappeared from sight, Eli and Umi crashed onto the table. "What the heck have we gotten ourselves into?"

"I don't know, but this absolutely sucks."

"Kharasho." Umi looked at Eli who was still sprawled out on the table. She couldn't help but stare at her beautiful blond hair. When her eyes did open, those big blue eyes were so stunning that she couldn't control herself. However, when Eli sat back up, Umi immediately snapped out of her trance and looked away.

"Hey Eli-chan, um, do you still want to discuss our plans?"

"No thank you. I'm feeling a little drained out from what just happened."

"Yeah, me too. I guess we should go home." They stood up, grabbed their things, and walked home. However, they live on complete opposites of town and the two of them were making their way to Eli's house.

"Um, Umi-chan, don't you live on the other side of town?"

"Yeah, but I just felt like walking you home." Umi smiled at Eli which caused her to smile back. On the way to Eli's house, the two of them were pretty quiet. They were still thinking about what happened at the café and how those little girls asked for something so specific. For some reason, they couldn't get it out of their heads. Eli knew that she couldn't be with Nozomi and Umi knew that Kotori didn't like her like that. However, they didn't know these things about each other. They just assumed that they were playing along with whatever the crowd was asking for. When they finally arrived at Eli's house, they stopped in front of her gate said their last goodbyes for the day. "Sorry about staying at that café. If I was smart, we could have left and not had to worry about that thing."

"No, it's alright. It's no big deal. It's just fans being fans."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Well, I'll see you at school then." She turned around to walk through the gate when she was suddenly grabbed. She turned back around to see Umi's hand holding hers. Her head was down and she was completely silent. "Umi-chan, what's wrong?"

"Eli-chan, I know this may seem completely cout of the blue, but do you love me?"

"Huh?"

"Do you love me?" Eli looked straight at Umi and saw that she was being serious.

"Umi-chan, I…"

End of Chapter 1

**Ending Note:** I know it's not much, but it's definitely a start. I hope this grabbed your attention somewhat because I already have this story planned out. I just need to finish writing it. Anyway, the updates for this story should be up soon so be sure to check out my profile for more information.


	2. Chapter 2

My Secret Lover

Chapter 2

The Answer

"Eli-chan, do you love me?"

"Umi-chan, I…"

"Onee-chan, you're late. Dinner's ready. Hurry up." Eli's little sister walked out of the house and pulled her back into the house.

"Umi-chan…"

"Come on. I've been waiting and I'm hungry." In that instant, Eli made it into her house before she could answer Umi's question. For a few seconds, Umi stood right outside her gate, hoping she would come out, but she didn't so she decided to head home.

On her way home, she was contemplating on if it was right of her to ask that question. It's been stored in her mind for so long, but for some reason, she still had this thought that it wasn't the right time. The longer she continued to ponder that thought, the more she hoped that Eli didn't take it as a strange question. From her point of view, it seemed as if they were getting closer as friends so that question didn't seem too weird to her. However, Eli is a very interesting girl who Umi doesn't really quite understand yet.

When she got home, she packed away her things and ate dinner with her family. During dinner, Umi remained silent. She just ate her food quietly and stared at her legs the entire time. Her parents didn't intrude because they knew Umi was a quiet girl and would only talk if she truly wanted to talk.

Once she finished her food, she made her way to her room where she grabbed her pajamas and headed into the bathroom to get ready for bed. Before she did, she grabbed her phone and took it in with her. She was contemplating on texting or calling Eli to see if she was alright. She still didn't feel comfortable about the way things ended with them, but she didn't want to come off as desperate or annoying. So she set her phone down next to her and got inside the tub.

The hot water soothed her body and the silence of the bathroom made her feel at peace. Even with all of this conflict running through her head, sitting in the tub was almost like being in paradise. She was able to relax and think about others things that weren't so stress-related. Her mind started to think about archery and the importance of keeping a sound mind. Thinking about archery always made her feel at ease so she decided to keep dozing off until her phone buzzed next to her, disrupting the peace of everything. She grabbed her phone and saw that it was Eli. She quickly answered the call and tried to stay calm.

"Eli-chan, are you okay? I'm so sorry for dumping that question on you like. I don't know what got over me. It's just that…"

"Eli."

"Huh?"

"You can call me Eli. There's no need for honorifics."

"But you're still my sempai. I don't want to disrespect you or anything."

"It's fine. Don't you remember what we talked about at the beach house?"

"Yeah, it just feels better to do it with you." Eli couldn't help but smile. "Anyway, I'm really sorry for asking that question. It wasn't right of me to throw that on you."

"It's alright. I've actually been thinking about it." Umi's heart thumped.

"You… You did?"

"Yeah, I was definitely caught off guard by your question, but it definitely grabbed my attention." Her heart thumped even louder.

"Wh-What did you think about?" Umi was losing her composure as she eagerly awaited Eli's every response. She couldn't afford to lose her focus now, but things weren't making it hard for her to do so.

"I thought about your question and it made me think back to some other things. I remembered that time you tried to convince me to join. That was so bold of you even though I brushed you guys off so easily. I got to see your passion and will power and that made me think differently about you. I thought you were just Honoka's friend trying to make her dream come true, but I realized that you have the same desire as I do." Eli paused as Umi's heart was bursting out of her chest. "We want our school to remain open. It's not just that though. I kind of sensed we had something going on between us. That's when I realized I had feelings for you. Haha, I guess I just answered your question." There was a long silence on the other end. "Um, Umi, are you still there?"

"Ah, haha, yeah I'm here. Um, I don't know what to say."

"I wasn't expecting you to give me that answer."

"Oh really, are you happy now that I did?" Umi's face was bright red. There was no need to hide anything since Eli couldn't see her, but she was completely flustered.

"I, uh, I have to go." Right then and there, Umi hung up the phone and slammed her hands against her face.

What am I doing? Isn't this what I wanted? Eli told me that she has feelings for me. I need to happy about this. There's no need to shy about all of this. Umi grabbed her phone again and dialed Eli's number. She took a deep breath and waited for her to pick the phone.

"Umi, why'd you hang up the phone? I was starting to get worried that answered wrong."

"No, no. It's fine. To be completely honest, that was the answer I was hoping for. Just hearing it like that took me by surprise."

"Haha, you're not very good when it comes to girly stuff like this."

"Whatever."

"So?"

"So what?"

"I want to hear what you think about me?" Umi started to panic. She didn't plan this far ahead and was completely unprepared to answer this with as good as an answer as Eli. She desperately searched through her mind until something popped out to her.

"Eli, you're beautiful. You're so talented and I fell for all of you. You're so perfect and I wanted to be with you ever since I first met you." There was a long pause. As those seconds went by, Umi started to think that she screwed up her answer. But then, she heard something she wasn't expecting. Eli was laughing.

"Haha, Umi, you're so cute and funny." Umi couldn't help but blush at her comment.

"Thank you Eli-chan."

"Eli, you can call me Eli."

"Are you sure? I like Eli-chan better." Eli sighed.

"Well, if you like it more, that's fine. Just try not to do it front of everyone else since we all made that agreement at the beach house."

"Okay."

"Are you gonna be at school tomorrow?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I was just making sure. I wanna give you something special. Bye."

"Wait…" She was too slow. Eli hung up without saying another word. Umi slowly put her phone down in thought. What was she going to give me? Why did she use the word "special?" Umi's face got even redder as she continued to think about it.

All of a sudden, a knock came from the door. It was her parents. They were wondering if she was alright since she's been in the bathroom for quite some time. Umi quickly looked at the time and saw that it's been nearly two hours since she first walked in. She quickly washed her body and finished up her business in the bathroom. She then ran out and made her way to her room. Her parents wanted a response from her, but all she gave them was a smile and a nod.

When she made it into her room, she couldn't stop moving around. Her mind was too busy thinking about Eli's final comment. What could she possibly give me that was _so _special? Maybe she's just joking around. Maybe she just wants me to show up to school so she could see. Yeah, that's probably it.

As she thought about that, she started to get a little drool face. She was thinking about how happy Eli's going to be for simply seeing her tomorrow. She was also thinking about how Eli would probably pat her on the head saying she did a good job. Umi started to chuckle to herself as the thoughts gained more and more imagination. It was until her visions started to get dirty when she finally snapped out of her trance. She looked at the clock and saw that it was approaching midnight. She decided that that was enough for one day. She crawled into bed and stared at the ceiling, still thinking about what tomorrow would bring her.

She didn't really care, but she did want something good to happen.

End of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

My Secret Lover

Chapter 3

That Special Something

**Note: **Here's an early update for you guys because I'll be busy for the day and won't be able to get around to my computer so I hope you all enjoy.

The next day started bright and early. Umi jumped out of bed and got ready. Once she was done, she blazed through her breakfast and ran to school. As she ran to school, she saw Honoka and Kotori, but totally disregarded them. They tried to stop her before she passed them, but it was no good. Her mind was set on only one thing and that was to find out what Eli was talking about. When she finally made it on campus, she ran around and desperately looked for Eli.

Unfortunately, everywhere she looked, there was no sign of her. She checked in the third-year classrooms, the club room, and the roof, but she was nowhere to be found. Even though the day just started, Umi was starting to lose all hope. She wanted to find Eli as fast as possible, but she had no idea where she was. As she turned her head round and round, she spotted Nico walked through the halls. She immediately ran to her and gripped her by the shoulders.

"Nico!" Umi eyed her with such devilish eyes that Nico was barely able to answer. "Do you know where Eli-chan is?"

"Uhh, Eli is uh… Um…"

"Where is she?!"

"Aaahhhhhh, Umi, please!"

"Tell me where she is!" Umi was pressing against Nico with all of her might and Nico was growing more scared of her by the second.

"She's… She's in the Student Council room."

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "See you later." Umi pranced off without a care in the world as she left Nico on the ground, completely scarred. When she made to the Student Council room, she barged right through. "Eli-chan, I'm here. What was the…" She suddenly stopped mid-sentence. She saw that the Student Council was right in the middle of their meeting. "Uuuhhhh…" Umi quickly ran out of the room, completely embarrassed with herself.

After a few minutes, the Student Council finally finished their meeting and exited the room. As Eli and Nozomi left the room, they saw Umi sitting down right next to the door, moping about what just happened. Eli took a step towards Umi when the bell rang for class.

"Eli-chi, we should get to class."

"Alright, I'll be right there. Just give me a second." Nozomi walked off to class while Eli knelt down next to Umi. "Meet me at the club room after practice today." Umi couldn't respond. The sneaky comment by Eli made her get all flustered.

For the rest of the day, Umi was restless. She couldn't sit still or concentration in class. Everyone else in her class took notice of this because Umi is usually a very good student, but seeing her like this made everyone else get a little scared. Honoka and Kotori also noticed this and gave each other concerned looks. They knew that when Umi was like this, she was very scaring, no matter how good of friends they were with each other.

On the other hand, Eli was acting a little nervous. Even though she was the one who told Umi to meet her, she was on-edge. She had big plans, but was a little scared to execute them. For some reason, Umi made her feel anxious. She was similar to Nozomi, but also different at the same time. Both of them were very calm and very supportive of her, but something about Umi made her feel a little different. She couldn't really describe that feeling, but she did know that she liked it. Her eyes constantly peered over at the clock, counting down the seconds until practice and until after practice.

When school ended and practice started, Umi was completely pumped up. She was ready to work, but what she really wanted was for practice to end. Honoka and Kotori decided to confront her and tell her to calm down. Immediately, she glared at them with huge eyes and they cowered to a corner, unable to say anymore.

The first and second years were all ready to go, everyone waiting for the third years. They normally take a little longer to get there since they have other things to do. However, when they did arrive on the roof, Umi completely changed. Once she saw Eli, her heart dropped and her mood took a complete U-turn. They said hello to everyone in the group, but when Eli approached Umi, she couldn't give her a response back. This only caused Eli to chuckle and Umi to feel worse about herself.

During practice, Umi was not present. She appeared to be lost in thought and unable to keep up with the flow of practice. They asked her if she was alright, but she kept telling them that she was fine. This was obviously a lie. Umi was always the best when it came to practice and seeing her out of it definitely meant something was going on. Unfortunately, Umi was much of a talker when it comes to those things so it was no use trying to get anything out of her.

Once practice was over, Umi was the first one to leave. She headed down to grab her things. As she walked by herself, she was contemplating on if she should meet Eli. She's been so restless about it, but ever since she saw her during practice, things have been a little different. She waited until everyone left school before finally making her decision. She headed to the club room, completely in silence. She was sort of excited, but she still thought about what happened during practice. She didn't know why it happened and she was hoping Eli would have some answers for her. When she got to the club room, she slowly opened the door and walked in.

"Eli, are you here?"

"You finally said my name normally." All of a sudden, the door slid closed and Umi turned around to see Eli standing behind her. She locked the door and slowly walked towards Umi.

"Um, Eli, about that special something. Do you think we could wait for that? I'm not…" Eli suddenly put her hands on Umi's cheek and kissed her. The force of this kiss and Eli's body pushed Umi against the table in the middle of the room.

"What was that for?"

"That was the special something." Umi's eyes widened. Was this her intention the entire time? "I wanted to give you our first kiss." Eli looked at Umi and saw that she looked kind of shocked as if she saw some kind of ghost. "What's wrong? Was that too sudden?" Out of nowhere, Umi grabbed Eli's wrists and pinned her against the door. "Ah, Umi-chan, you're…" Umi suddenly kissed her back.

"Eli, I love you."

"I love you too. Ah." At that moment, Umi started to lick Eli around the neck area, causing her to moan softly. "Umi, you're really into this."

"I'm sorry. I can't stop myself." With her right hand, she let go of Eli's wrist and snuck into Eli's panties. "Ah, Umi, I'm sensitive there."

"Don't worry. I'll take good care of you." Umi picked her up by the ass and carried her back to the table where she set her down on her back. She then stripped Eli of her clothes and started to suck on her boobs. This time, Eli's moaning grew louder for the touch of Umi's tongue was just too much to stay quiet about. Once her nipples got nice and hard, she slowly travelled down her body until she reached her pussy. There, she removed her panties and stuck Eli's legs in the air. "You ready?" Eli nodded her head and Umi quickly shoved her face into Eli's pussy.

"Ah!" Umi immediately started out rough. She stuck her tongue as far as she could inside of Eli's pussy and swirled it around. To her surprise, Eli quickly started to get all wet. Her juices were starting to cover Umi's face as she continued to eat up Eli's pussy. The longer she continued with her conquest, the louder Eli moaned. She couldn't believe how well Umi could do this. She didn't seem like that kind of girl, but outer appearances aren't always right.

By now, Eli knew to keep her legs in the air which made it easier for Umi to concentrate on eating Eli. With her hands now free, she stuck her fingers inside of her and started to fuck her as hard as she could. Immediately, her fingers got all wet. At the same time, Umi was cleaning up everything that was coming out her.

More time went by and Eli was starting to get all squirmy. Her body was starting to twitch uncontrollably as Umi wasn't stopping. Her fingers were going deeper and deeper, but it felt good to Eli. She wanted her to keep going, but she knew that that was possible.

"Umi, I'm gonna cum."

"Cum, Eli. I want to make you cum." Her fingers drove further into Eli's pussy until they finally pushed her out.

"Aaaahhhhhh!" Umi licked up the juices that escaped Eli's pussy as her entire body lost its strength. Her body twitched and she was breathing heavyily. Umi rubbed Eli's pussy gently to try and calm her down and after a few minutes, she finally relaxed. Umi travelled back up to her face and kissed her on the lips.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I didn't know you were so good."

"It's because I love you."

"I love you too." Eli pulled her in for hug. "We should probably clean up since we're having a meeting tomorrow."

"Right. Good call."

End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

My Secret Lover

Chapter 4

An Interesting Turn of Events

**Note: **I apologize about what happened on Sunday. My family visited me out of the blue and I didn't want to take any time away from that. I hope you guys can understand. I wanted to update my stories, but these days, family is important to me. Anyway, here it is and I hope you all enjoy.

For the rest of the week, Umi completely turned herself around. She was happy, cheerful, and full of energy during the entire day. Everyone in the group took notice and was happy to see her like this. Happy Umi was much better than scary Umi; Nico knew this from experience. Also, Eli and Umi got to spend a lot of time together. It wasn't anything daring, but they got to be together a lot. Both of them enjoyed it and no one suspected anything.

Muse also had a performance on Saturday. It wasn't anything big, but the crowd who attended enjoyed every bit of it. Unfortunately, with a big crowd means their little dilemma. Everyone watching demanded some hints of love from their ships. Of course, Maki and Nico got most of the attention, but all they could give them was a hug. However, that was good enough.

The things that made it difficult was that the crowd wanted something from Eli and Nozomi. Eli was a little nervous and Umi couldn't hide it either. She didn't want them to do anything, but if they didn't, the crowd would go crazy. So, Nozomi kissed Eli on the cheek and their fans nearly had a stroke. They cheered out and chanted Muse as loud as possible.

When the crowd got involved, it made it hard to get through the rest of the concert. Once it was done, they all headed back stage and gave a sigh of relief. They all talked about how ridiculous this was getting. They loved their fans and would do anything to please them, but they were getting a little to rowdy. Thankfully, Eli was there to calm the group. She reminded them that they were doing this for their school so it wouldn't last that much longer. They were on the right track so all they had to do was continue doing what they were doing. Everyone smiled and changed out of their outfits. When everyone finished getting changed, they all headed out when Eli grabbed Umi's hand. She turned nervously to see Eli looking right at her.

"Hey Umi, would you like to come over this weekend?" Umi's face immediately got all red.

"Um, I'd love to, but I'd have to ask my parents first."

"Don't worry about that. I already asked them and they said yes. Come on." Eli grabbed Umi's hand and pulled her along. They zoomed through crowds of people until they finally arrived at Eli's house.

When they got there, Eli pulled her right into her house where she was shocked. She had never been to Eli's house before and she was completely in awe of the place. It was huge and very organized, something that Umi could relate to. As they walked through, Eli's sister saw Umi and ran up to her, saying how Muse was amazing and how she was her favorite. Umi couldn't help but blush. Individually, she never really got a lot of attention from her fans so meeting one person who did like her made her feel better.

After that little encounter was over, Eli took Umi up to her room. Again, Umi was impressed. Her room was very organized and very Eli. However, what happened next totally took Umi off guard.

"Umi, come on." Eli grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her room.

"Where are we going?"

"To take a bath."

"Eh?!"

"What? We just came back from a show and we're all sweaty and stuff."

"But…" Umi couldn't respond. She was just pulled against her will into the bathroom. She wasn't against it. It was just that it was so sudden and so unlike Eli to do something like this.

When they got to the bathroom, Eli immediately took off her clothes. On the other hand, Umi was still a little hesitant. She couldn't help but stare at Eli's beautiful body. She watched as she unpinned her hair. Her long, blonde hair fell down to her hips. Her perfect hourglass figure almost made Umi drool.

"Umi, why are you so slow?" Eli promptly grabbed Umi and started to strip her of her clothes. Once everything was off, Umi covered up as her face turned bright red. "Why are you so nervous? We're both girls."

"I know. It's just… You're very eager today." Eli smiled and walked Umi into the bath. Inside was a huge bath and wide open washing area. Eli walked over to the bath and filled it with nice hot water. When it was filled to the top, they stepped in and immediately felt like they were in heaven.

"Ah, this feels so good."

"I know. Not cleaning up after shows really sucks."

"Hey Umi."

"Yeah?"

"You want to touch my breasts again?" Umi's face shot bright red.

"Huh?!"

"I know you've been wanting to. I see you staring at me. There's no need to be shy." Eli inched closer to Umi, but she was too nervous to look at her so she turned her head. "What's wrong Umi? Don't you want to touch them?" Umi slowly turned her head and looked at Eli who was still staring her down. "Go ahead. I'm giving you permission." Eli grabbed Umi's hand and placed it on her breast.

Immediately, Umi got turned on. Touching her boobs was almost too much to handle. They were a nice, complete size. Eli wasn't teasing her and Umi was totally on-edge. She didn't know what to do. She wasn't sure if she should be shy about it or keep going. After a few seconds, Eli moved her wrist down her stomach and near her crotch where Umi quickly pulled away.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry. I can't do this."

"What are you talking about? I'm letting you."

"No, it's not right. Remember the last time, I had my way with you. For some reason, I feel like a horrible person."

"Why would you think like that? You didn't do anything wrong."

"I'm sorry. Can we simply start off slow?" Umi was looking right at Eli with such genuine eyes. There wasn't a single hint in her eyes which told Eli that she wasn't being serious. Eli smiled and grabbed Umi's hand again.

"Alright. I'm sorry for throwing myself on you. I don't know what I was thinking."

"It's okay, but I do want you to know that I do love you, Eli-chan."

"I love you too, Umi-chan."

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

My Secret Lover

Chapter 5

What We Do For Our Fans

**Note:** Be sure to check off March 15th of this month for I'll be releasing a special story just for you guys. Aside from that, I hope you enjoy this update and thank you so much for reading.

The days went by and Eli and Umi were starting to finally act normal. Their feelings for each other were still present, but they were able to control themselves. Even in private, they weren't trying anything too daring, but they still were reminding each other that they loved one another. Muse was also asked to perform at some special events which really increased their popularity. However, the fans there were extra crazy.

Right as the concert started and right when it ended, they all demanded to see their favorite couples give them a little something. Unable to refuse, the ships got to together and kiss their partners on the cheeks. Immediately, their fans fainted from overexposure. When the girls saw this happen, they quickly ran off-stage so that they wouldn't have to see anymore.

By now, it was just getting ridiculous. Their reactions were becoming almost psychotic. However, the stranger thing was that their requests were changing. All they were asking for was simple kiss, nothing more. This made things easier on the girls since they weren't forced to do something uncomfortable. As for Eli and Umi, it made it easier to get through these things since it was hard watching one another being kissed by someone else.

Finally, another week of school started which meant their weekly meetings as a group. Most of their performances were on the weekend so whenever they arrived at school, all of the girls were cling to them and talk about how amazing they were. For the members of Muse, they still found it a little weird for their class mates to be crazy about them. After all, they were doing it for them so there was no need for them to go all fan girl on them.

The first day of the week always seems long for everyone no matter what they've gone through. Most of the time, the girls fought as hard as they could until the final bell rang and Muse practice started. Some were luckier than others. The first and second years could head to the club room right after school ended, while Eli and Nozomi were forced to finish up some of the Student Council work. When all of that was over, they all slowly made it into the club room to talk about their progress and future events they have planned.

"Alright, so how do you think our last performance went?"

"Well, aside from the fan portion of it, I thought it went pretty well. We can never go wrong when we end with a little Nico-Nico-ni!" Everyone groaned and turned their heads. Nico returned to normal and gave everyone dirty looks.

"So Eli-chan, how do you think we did?"

"I thought it went really well. I can definitely tell that we're working hard."

"Of course we are. We work every day and it feels like I'm dying at the end of practice."

"Haha, Honoka-chan, you don't need to exaggerate," Kotori said as Honoka bashed her head into the table.

"Anyway, if that's all we want to say, I'll go ahead and move onto what we have planned for in the future." Everyone cheered as Eli turned the page in her planner. Immediately, her heart dropped and her eyes shot wide open.

"Eli-chi, what's wrong?" She couldn't answer. What she saw on the page was just too much to speak.

"Eli-chan, are you okay?" All of a sudden, Nico grabbed her planner out of her hands and read the plans out loud.

"This Saturday, a large group of our fans will be hosting a fandom meeting in which they are requesting we attend…" Nico immediately grew sick to her stomach as she dropped the planner on the table. "You've got to be kidding me, right? This isn't really going to happen."

"Uh, I totally forgot about this. I'm so sorry, everyone. I thought it would be good for our popularity." No said anything. They couldn't. The whole room was silent as they were imagining what horrors would be unleashed if they were to attend that meeting.

"What are we going to do, ~nya?"

"We have to go." All of them groaned out in frustration.

"Ah, why?"

"This is stupid. Can't we just tell them we can't?"

"I'm sorry. I arranged this awhile back because I know it'll be good for us. Not many idol groups even do this, so if we can give them a good show, then we won't have to worry about our school closing down. Please, just try to think about that. I promise it won't be that bad." Everyone leaned back in their chairs and put their hands over their eyes for they were too worried about this. If they couldn't even handle their fans when they did a performance, what might happen if it was just a regular meeting? Eli looked around the room and saw that everyone was way too out of it. "You know, let's just cancel practice today. One day won't kill us, and since we don't have to perform, there isn't much fret in that." They immediately stood up from their chairs and bowed to Eli.

"Thank you, Eli-chan." They grabbed their things and walked out. As they started to leave the room, Umi decided to walk home with Eli. She turned to walk towards her side of the room when she saw Nozomi approached her with a lot of paper work. She knew what the answer was if she asked so she simply turned around and walked out. As she made her way through the halls, she overheard a conversation involving the members of Muse so she hid behind the corner and tried her best to hear what was going on."

"Eli and Nozomi. That is the best couple ever."

"You're being hysterical. Umi and Kotori were made for each other. None of the others could ever match up against them." She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Even though it seemed like a friendly conversation, it quickly turned violent. Their voices raised and other things happened which Umi didn't want to stick around for. She ran out of the school and quickly made her way home. When she got home, she slammed the door shut and pressed her back against it as she slowly slid to the floor.

"What's going to happen if people find out about us?"

End of Chapter 5

**Ending Note:** So I'm going to put this story on hiatus. Lately, I've been kind of losing momentum with this story and decided to use this time to reassess where I was heading with it. Don't worry, I promise more will come. I just need to gain some time on writing and figuring out how I'm going to end this story. I hope you guys understand. I'll see you all soon.


	6. Chapter 6

My Secret Lover

Chapter 6

Enter the Dragons

**Note:** Haha. So about that hiatus I said I was going to do… didn't need it at all. Something came over me this week which cleared my mind. Now, the story is back on track. I'm still a little slow on writing it, but I promise they're going to keep coming out. Happy birthday and beware the ides of March.

The week was slow and ominous. No one really spoke to each other. They were all so worried about the press conference that they couldn't think of anything else. Even Eli and Umi couldn't speak to each other. In their heads, they wanted to talk about what would happen if worst came to worst, but that didn't happen. They avoided contact with each other all week. Things weren't looking too good for Muse, and this press conference would only affect them even more.

…

The night before the press conference was long for everyone, especially for Umi. She was afraid of what might happen. It wasn't just about her and Eli, but about Nozomi as well. If she found out about them, it might hurt their friendship as well. She hasn't even told Kotori about this, but she was sure that things wouldn't be good either since they've been friends for so long. By not telling Kotori about this earlier, it only dug Umi into a deeper hole.

She sat at her desk and rammed her face against the table. She wanted things to be different. She even thought about what might've happened if she and Eli weren't even a thing. She put her hands on her head as she tried to remain calm. She knew that thinking about it the way she was would only make it worse when the time came. She sighed and took a deep breath when a buzz came from her phone. She looked up and saw that Eli was calling her. At first, she was a little hesitant to answer, but her body acted on its own as she reached for the phone to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hi Umi. How are you?"

"I'm alright, I guess. What about you? I've been worried about you."

"I'm fine. Just a little stressed about tomorrow."

"Yeah, me too. I didn't know something like this could get the better of me."

"I know. It's just a stupid press conference. I don't think we should…"

"Eli?"

"Yeah?"

"What should we do if things get sour?"

"What are you talking about? We'll do what we always do. Put on a good show for the crowd."

"I just…"

"What is it?"

"I can't keep going on like this."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I know it's an act and all, but seeing you in Nozomi's arms makes me feel wrong. You're mine and I don't want anyone else to be with you."

"Umi, come on. You know we're just acting."

"But Nozomi doesn't. I'm pretty sure she thinks that you're still available and will do anything to keep you in her arms. I don't want, but I also don't want to jeopardize the popularity of Muse. We've worked so hard for our school that if something were to go wrong, I could only blame myself." There was a pause before Eli finally answered her.

"Umi, there's nothing to worry about. Everything will go just like it usually does. I'm sure it won't come down to the worst possible situation."

"But how do you know? We think we know our fans, but we don't. Every time I overhear a conversation, it makes me sick to the stomach. They talk about their favorites and it always leads to something horrible. This isn't why I joined Muse. I joined so that we could make a difference for our school and the girls in our group."

"I know. We all want the same thing, but until it's all over, we just have to do what our fans want." Over the phone, Eli could hear soft whimpers and knew what was going on. "Hang on Umi. I'm coming over."

She hung up the phone and ran as fast as she could until she arrived at Umi's house. No one was home except for Umi which made her answer the door. Right as she opened it up, Eli lunged towards Umi and pulled her into her body. This immediately made Umi started to lose her composure. Tears started to fall from her face as Eli did her best to calm her down. Eli closed the door behind her and took Umi back to her room. They sprawled out over the bed and waited for Umi to return to her normal state.

"It's all my fault!"

"Don't be ridiculous. You can't pin this on yourself."

"But it's true. If I didn't fall in love with you, none of this would be a concern." Eli held her tighter as Umi started to scream out in pain. "I'm the idiot. I let my feelings get the best of me and now, you and I are paying the price."

"This is not your fault, Umi. I'm just as much to blame as you are. I opened up my heart to you." All of a sudden, Umi looked up and saw Eli looking down at her. "And I haven't regretted it since. I know it may seem like the world is coming to an end, but I promise that nothing bad will happen."

"Do you really promise?"

"I do."

Wiping away her tears, "Will you stay with me tonight?"

"Of course. I'll never leave you." It wasn't long until the two of them fell asleep from exhaustion.

When they did manage to fall asleep, everything felt so peaceful. They were in each other arms for the night and nothing was able to separate them. In their dreams, all they could see was each other, no one else was there. They had smiles on their faces and everything worked out perfectly for them. Unfortunately, everyone has to wake up sometime and they were woken up by a blaring alarm and morning sunlight hitting their face. They looked at the time and saw that it was 9:00am. The press conference was at 10:00am. They quickly got out of bed and got ready. No longer in their happy place, they were forced to face reality. One by one, the members of Muse met up and the convention center where the press conference was being held.

Once the last person made it to the convention center, a representative came through the door to guide them to their area of the building. As they walked through the halls, people watched them pass by and couldn't help but scream their names. Their reputation definitely proceeds them. They all put on smiles until they finally made it to their area. They looked up at the door that read, "Muse."

"Thank you for accepting this request. Just know that this means a lot to all of us so I hope you have a great time. This press conference will last for three hours so try to pace yourselves." When they heard the "three hour" part, their eyes shot wide open. "Are you ready?" They all nodded their heads as sweat fell from their heads. "Alright. Let's get this show on the road."

The representative opened up the door to a huge, open area. The nine of them walked through and saw a huge crowd of people, all of them waiting for Muse to show up. When the first person caught sight of them, the place erupted with loud cheers and screams. The representative showed them up to the stage where they took their seats. Unfortunately, things started off bad. The chairs all had names on them, indicating who was sitting by who. This worried Umi because the seating arrangement was determined by fan ships.

Rin and Hanayo were on stage right. Honoka was right next to them. After her was Umi and Kotori. Next was Nico and Maki. And all the way at the other end of the long table was Eli and Nozomi. The nine of them took their seats as the whole place was shaking with the sounds of their fans cheers and screams.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, please settle down. Muse is finally here so we may need to begin the press conference. First, we will start with some simple introductions by each other the nine of girls." They all gulped as they saw their mics turn on simultaneously. Umi looked down the table and saw Eli mouthing to her.

It's going to be alright.

End of Chapter 6

**Ending Note: **If you haven't already, please check out the special story I uploaded just for today. It should be good so I hope you enjoy that and this unexpected update. Thank you so much for reading.


	7. Chapter 7

My Secret Lover

Chapter 7

The Day That Never Seemed to End

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, let's begin!"

"Aayyyeee!" The representative turned off the mic and at the same time, the ones on their table turned on. They looked at each other and took a deep breath. Instead of doing what the announcer said they would do, Honoka took it upon herself to act like the leader and address her fans.

"Um, hey everybody."

"Honoka! Love!" Out of nowhere, the entire crowd did that little chant in complete unison which nearly threw her off.

"Um, I hope everyone's doing great today. We are Muse. I'm Honoka." There were random cheers in the sea of crowd, but she managed to ignore them. "So I'm pretty sure you guys know us all by now so I guess we'll just start with the questions. If you could, please do this in an orderly fashion and please direct at the question at a specific person." Honok turned her head and saw Eli nodding at her. She immediately took a sigh of relief. She was already doing a great job.

"Actually, there are two mics on each side of the room where people can go ask questions."

"Oh okay. I was just informed that there are mics on the side of the room where you can ask your questions so if you please…" There was immediate shifting everywhere as they ran as fast as they could to get to the mic. Meanwhile, the girls were from Muse were watching in awe of how crazy these people were. Honoka looked around and saw that line behind each mic. "I… I guess we'll get started. We'll start on the left side of the room and go back in forth. First question." The girls immediately tightened their fists as they braced for what was to come.

"Hi, I love you ladies. Who came up with idea to form this group?" They all immediately opened their eyes. That was not the question they were expecting. Kotori grabbed the mic and decided to answer that question.

"It was actually Honoka-chan's idea. Since out school was in danger of closing down, we tried to come up with something to help increase our popularity and she suggested becoming school idols. After that, it just sort of took off from there."

"You're the best Honoka!" A random voice came from the sea of fans as everyone chuckled to themselves including the members of Muse. Honoka couldn't help but blush at that little comment.

"Thank you, and you are too. Next question."

"Hi. This question is mostly directed towards Nico-chan."

Out of nowhere, the whole place shook with the sound, "Nico-Nico-ni!" They couldn't believe it. Their fans even knew about that little thing. They looked over at Nico who was in shock. She was the most surprised out of all of them.

"Yeah, is it true that you're the only one who's had previous idol experience?"

"Yes."

"So how did you handle dealing with the other girls since none of them were trained?"

"Um, well, Eli-chan was a former dancer so it was pretty for her, but for everyone else, it was a complete train wreck." Their fans started to laugh.

"Thanks for the modesty, Nico-chan. Next question."

"Um, my question is more for all of you ladies. Who do you think is the cutest?" Their fans immediately turned their heads and stared them down. However, everyone, but one of them were ready for that question.

"Maki-chan!" Immediately, Maki-chan rose from her seat with a red face.

"What are you talking about?! Don't be ridiculous!"

"Maki-chan, we love you!"

"Woo!" Thanks to those comments, she immediately calmed down and took her seat.

Surprisingly, things were going very well. Nothing was awkward about it and they were actually having fun. The questions were alright, but somehow, they managed to make every question into something that teased one of their members. Umi was quiet for most of the time, but she was really glad that things were going smoothly. She looked down the table and saw Eli smiling. That's when she knew that things were going very well. She mustered up a smile for the crowd and everyone took notice.

As the press conference went on, they tried to guess who the crowd favorite was. It was really difficult. Just like what they did for Nico, each girl received a chant from the crowd. They put about 50% of their effort to figure that while the questions kept on coming. However, that was what made it fun. As long as things carried on like this, they didn't mind how long. Out of nowhere, Honoka grabbed the mic and stood up from her chair.

"You guys wanna play a game?"

"Yyyyeeeaaaahhh!"

"Alright, I'm sure you'll catch on." She walked over to Rin and stood right behind her. She slowly rose her hand above Rin's head and the crowds started to cheer. Then, she did the same for Hanayo and the same result happened. Up next, she did it to herself and the cheers were even louder. So far, she was winning.

When it was Nico's turn, the crowds were loud, but not close enough to Honoka. After her was Maki and that's when things got crazy. The cheering was so much louder than Honoka's that it made Maki feel embarrassed. Now, Maki was winning. After her was Kotori, but it didn't compare to Maki's cheers. Umi was next and the cheers equaled that of Maki's. Nozomi and Eli's cheers were pretty good too, but it was obvious that the crowds like Maki and Umi the most.

"Thank you for participating. You guys are the best." She sat back down and resumed with the questions. "I think you guys should ask our celebrities some questions then. Next."

"Hey perfect timing, I was actually going to ask Maki-chan something. How long have you and Nico-chan been together?" A couple of the girls were drinking some water when that popped up which caused them to spit it out.

"Huh? What kind of question is that?! Next question." All of a sudden, random people in the crowd stood up. They had signs and shirts that supported the "MakiNico" ship. She immediately felt tiny when this happened. Her eyes widened and she couldn't find the words. She fell back onto her chair and looked at the ground. Realizing that it was getting to this time of the press conference, Nico took over for her.

"Maki-chan and I have been together for about 3 months now, and we are happy as can be." The whole place lit up once again. Everyone was cheering for Maki and Nico. As they looked out to the crowd, they saw signs that all had the word "canon" on it. This made Nico a little embarrassed. It was true that they were together, but she didn't carry enough pride to be happy about their signs.

"Haha, okay, next question." The girls were starting to get nervous, especially Umi. She knew that this was going to happen, but she tried her best to believe it wouldn't happen.

"Alright, first off, I'd like to say that EliNozo is the only ship we need." This comment immediately sparked a fight amongst their fans. People started to sit up from their chairs and form teams. They were watching this all unfold as the people were reorganizing into ship teams. Team MakiNico was by far the biggest group. Team EliNozo, UmiKoto, and KayoRin were right behind them in numbers. Out of nowhere, the announcer stepped in to calm things down.

"People please… Just let him ask his question."

"Thank you. Anyway, I wanted to know if Nozomi-chan could give Eli-chan a little kiss. I know we all want to see that." All of their eyes shot open. What kind of question was that? Umi was panicking. She didn't want that to happen, but what would happen if they didn't do it? It's already been established that these people are insane and if they don't do it, something bad might happen. She looked down the table and saw the two of them looking at each other.

"Um, I don't know if we could do that right now. It doesn't seem quite right." Umi pumped her fists.

Good job, Nozomi. Way to stick up for yourself. You don't need to fulfill their requests. Just stay strong and we'll get out of this.

"Aw please. All we want is a simple kiss. You can't do that?" Eli looked at the girl and then back at Nozomi.

"Well, I guess we could. It's just a little kiss." Umi gasped for she knew what that meant. They were going to do it.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" The chanting started up and the two of them prepared for the kiss. Umi couldn't look. Don't do it. It's just a kiss. You need to calm down. Just breathe, breathe; it'll all be over soon. Wait, you're losing it. What are you doing? Sit back down!

"Eli belongs to me, not Nozomi! Stop asking this of her!" The whole place grew silent.

Oh my God, what did I just do?

End of Chapter 7


	8. Chapter 8

My Secret Lover

Chapter 8

Shocking Turnout

**Note: **I want to thank you all for reading this story. I hope you're enjoying and I hope you keep enjoying it with updates to come.

What did I just do? I didn't say that, did I?

"Wait? Umi-chan, are you saying that you're Eli's lover." Her face was all red and she couldn't speak anymore. She looked around the room and saw everyone in shock. All of the EliNozo fans were quiet. The UmiKoto fans were star struck. This was such big news to everyone that no one could really speak. That question was still up in the air, but Umi wasn't able to answer it. She looked around once more and stormed out on her own.

"Umi-chan, wait?!" Eli reached out her and jumped out of her chair, hoping she would look back, but she didn't. She kept on running until she was out the door and away from sight. "Umi-chan."

Out of nowhere, the fans broke out into a riot. The Eli fans were torn between staying with Nozomi fans and going over to Umi. On the other hand, Nozomi and Kotori fans were in angered to the core. The other girl was betraying their girl. Their little discussions soon grew to loud objections and then to full-on fights. That's when the reps had to step in. More than half of them tried to stop the violence while the rest of them escorted Muse out of the convention center. After that, they were let go and everyone was so confused. The one who weren't affected by this didn't know what to say. Kotori was a little nervous. It was mutual between her and Umi that they didn't like each other that way, but it still made her feel bad. Nozomi was pretty rattled. She tried asking Eli what was going on, but Eli was just as confused as everyone else.

She thought she told Umi to be calm and not worry. It's very rare for Umi to lose herself like that. The only thing she could do was make sure she was alright. After a few more minutes, everyone started to calm down as they decided to head home for the day. Nozomi asked if Eli wanted to come over, but Eli said that it was best for her to be alone and think about what happened. Even though Nozomi wanted her to come over, she respected her thoughts and left her alone for the rest of the weekend.

When Eli got home, she dropped to her knees and placed her hand over her mouth as to try and prevent the tears from forming. However, it was too late. Tears ran down her face as she stared at the ground. She didn't want this to happen, and most of all, she didn't want to see Umi go through something like this. If anything, she wanted to be the one to admit their love to each other. Although it may not seem like it, Umi was a fragile girl and Eli knew that. She wiped away her tears as fast as she could and ran up to her room.

Once there, she grabbed her phone out of her bag and dialed up Umi. She urgently waited for Umi to pick up, but as the tones continued to play, she knew that Umi didn't want to talk. Then, her answering machine went on and she waited until the beep to try and get Umi to talk to her.

"Umi, are you there? It's me Eli. I really need to talk to you… I want to talk to you. Please pick up the phone. I want to hear your voice. If you're worried about what happened earlier today, don't take it so hard. I'm sure people will understand. Don't beat yourself up just because they didn't approve of something like that." She paused, hoping Umi would pick up just in time, but it still didn't happen. "I don't care what happens to us. We may lose our popularity, but that doesn't matter. We're doing it for our school. Our true fans know that and they wouldn't desert us like that. You deserve to love whoever you want so please… call me back. I love you." She slowly hung up the phone, but her hopes weren't achieved. It was silent on the other end.

Umi, where are you? I really want to talk to you. More than anything else, she wanted to go to her house, but she knew that that was being way too pushy. Just calling her like that made her feel a little bad. She should give Umi her space, but she wanted to make sure that she was alright. Something like that isn't something someone can get over so easily. She simply dropped her phone on the ground and fell over onto her bed, still hoping to hear Umi's voice before the day came to an end.

…

Umi stormed through the streets until she got home. When she arrived her family was there, but she didn't stop for them. She quickly ran to her room and barricaded herself inside. This was strange behavior for her so her parents decided to investigate. They knocked on her door, asking if she was alright, but Umi didn't answer. The door occasionally had a soft hitting noise which indicated that she was throwing something against it. They quickly left her alone until she was ready to talk to them.

Once they left, she was ready to be alone. However, the silence wouldn't last forever. Her phone started to buzz and she saw that it was Eli. Her hand immediately reached towards it, but her other hand grabbed it before she could and threw it back on her body. She wanted to answer it so badly, but there was some conflict within her saying that it wasn't a good idea. She simply cuddled up into a ball and shoved herself in the corner of her room. When the buzzing and ringing finally stopped, she looked at the phone and saw that she received a new message. Again, the conflict was present, making it impossible for her to grab her phone and call Eli.

I want to call her. I want to talk to her. I'm sure she's worried about me, so why am I hesitating? I know I made a mistake and that's what's she there for. She can help me get over this. I want to talk to her. Out of nowhere, she mustered up the strength and grabbed her phone. She opened up it and up and listened to the message.

The sweet sound of Eli's voice immediately made her feel better. She heard the worry and sadness in her voice which nearly made her cry. She didn't mean to make Eli feel this way. She just wanted to make sure that Nozomi wouldn't do anything to her that she didn't approve of. Once the message was over, her thumb hovered over the call button. That's when she panicked.

I know I said I wanted to call her, but what do I say? I don't know why I said the things I did. She told me to be calm and not worry, yet I did the complete opposite of what she told me to do. Can I honestly face her, knowing that I'm the only who's at fault? She closed the phone and let it drop the ground. She then pressed her hands against her head as her mind was starting fill up with endless thoughts, horrible things that she didn't want to think about.

End of Chapter 8


	9. Chapter 9

My Secret Lover

Chapter 9

Is She Alright?

**Note: **I'm sorry for not updating last week. I went on vacation and decided to go home. I spent most of my time with my family and didn't want to attract my attention away from it. I'm sorry for not letting you guys know, but everything will return to normal. Here's a special update for you guys so I hope you enjoy.

The next week of school started and everyone was hoping that things would finally return to normal. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out like that. When they arrived at school, everyone was arguing about what happened at their press conference over the weekend. The arguments were all about Eli and Umi. The entire school was torn in two. Half supported Eli and Umi while the other half supported Eli and Nozomi. None of them spent the time to listen to their conversations, but they did know that it wasn't something they wanted to pay attention to.

When they met in the club room for the first time of the week, they were planning on discussing what happened. Unfortunately, when they arrived, they were disappointed to find out that Umi wasn't at school either. They asked Honoka and Kotori if they knew anything about her whereabouts, but they were unable to give them an answer.

They were all worried about Umi. Although she ended their press conference quite abruptly, they were concerned that something happened to her. They all tried calling her, but she never replied back to them.

Eli was the most worried. She was just as guilty yet she didn't feel anywhere near the same as Umi.

Once school was over, they decided it was best to take the day off. Practice wouldn't be the same without Umi and they didn't want to get ahead of her. They said their goodbyes and went home. As Eli was grabbing her things, Nozomi came up next to her and gave her a smile. Unfortunately, Eli was too occupied to notice Nozomi's act of kindness. Nozomi hated seeing her like this so she knew she had to do something.

"Eli-chi, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You've haven't been yourself lately and it's been worrying me."

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm myself. How could you say something like that?" Eli hoisted her bag over her shoulder and tried to leave the room when Nozomi grabbed her wrist. At that instant, Eli felt a pain in her chest she's never felt before.

"Please don't lie to me, Eli-chi. We've been together for a long time now. I know when you're alright and when you're not." Nozomi waited for some kind of response, but Eli kept facing forward, avoiding eye contact with Nozomi. "Please talk to me." All of a sudden, Eli broke free of Nozomi's wrist and ran for it. She tried stopping her, but it was already too late. She was too fast and she didn't have her things with her so chasing after her wasn't really any option. Eli kept on running. Tears were falling from her face as she ran the opposite direction from her house. After a few minutes, she found herself at Umi's house. She looked up at the house, but noticed that it was dead. None of the lights were on and it seemed as if that house was abandoned. She took a deep breath and slowly walked to the front door.

"Umi, are you there," she asked as she knocked on the door. However, it was too quiet. She could hear the echo of her knock sound through the house, but that only made her knock again. "Umi, if you're in there, please come out. I want to talk to you." There was no reply which started to make her feel even more worried. "You can't keep doing this. You have to come out. Who cares about what happened. It doesn't matter…" Out of nowhere, there was a soft thud that came from the door. "Umi?"

"Hi Eli."

"Umi." Eli pressed her ear against the door and hear the soft breathing Umi as she put her back against the door. "Can I come in?" There was no reply which told her that she wasn't quite in the mood for something like that. So she pressed her back against the door and slid down onto her butt. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Everyone's been worried about you. They want you to come back. I… I want you to come back. I miss you."

"This is just stupid."

"Stupid? What are you talking about?"

"This whole thing. Us. How can we be happy if the people around us don't even approve of us?"

"Who cares if they don't approve? I love you and you love me. That's all that matters. You can't be down because a couple of people disapprove of us being together."

"But it wasn't just a couple of people. Didn't you see all of those fans? That's more than just a couple of people. They're the ones who can keep our school from closing down."

"Umi, there just fans. If we lose them because of this, who cares? I'm certain of what we're doing and that the school won't close. I promise you. Everything we've done was for the school. You, compared to anyone else, sacrificed the most."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, you always told me that this idea was so out there that you didn't think you could do it. But when the time came, you said you loved it. Now, you're budgeting being an idol, participating in archery, and being a major part of your family. No one else could do what you've done. You should be proud of yourself."

"But it's because of what I did that'll put the school back in danger."

"No, it won't. As long as we stay strong and perform our hearts, that won't happen." All of a sudden, there was a break in their conversation. Eli tried to focus her hearing on the inside of the house, but she couldn't hear anything. "Umi-chan, are you there?" There was no response. She got up from the ground and put her hand on the door know. Unfortunately, it was still locked. "Umi-chan, please come out." A tear rolled down her face. "We have to get through this together." There was still no response. Suddenly, Eli's bag dropped onto the ground as she fell to her knees and started to cry.

Just outside of the gate, Nozomi followed her to Umi's house. She was listening in on the entire conversation. As she watched Eli cry, she wanted to do everything she could to make her feel better, but she knew that that would only make things worse. After realizing that their moment was over, Nozomi grabbed her things and made her way back home. On the way there, she was busy thinking about what happened and what she could do to make things better. There had to be something she could do. Nowhere in her cards did it say Muse go experience something like this. She was determined to find the solution, even if it meant giving something important to her.

End of Chapter 9


	10. Chapter 10

My Secret Lover

Chapter 10

A Wish from Her

**Note:** Just giving you guys a heads up, the story is nearing its conclusion so I hope you're all enjoying it and thank you all so much for the support.

The rest of the school went by pretty gloomily. Muse practices were becoming scarce as they were starting to see less of each other every day. Of course, they were all really worried about Umi, but they were starting to think that this would be the end of Muse. In different groups, they went to Umi's house to try and talk to her, but she wouldn't talk. Honoka and Kotori weren't even able to get her to say anything. She just remained inside of her house without communicating with the outside world.

As things continued to go on, Eli decided to call a meeting with Muse. It was a little difficult to get everyone together since they were all a little sad that Umi wasn't going to be with them. Once everyone made it to the club room, Eli made sure that everyone was there and started the meeting.

"Hey everyone, I know we've been a little distant lately, but I think it's been for the best."

"What are you talking about Eli-chan?"

"I think it's best that we took a little break." The room suddenly became silent. The only way of communication that was used was their faces. They were all shocked and surprised by this move by Eli.

"Are you sure? If we take a break, it'll be hard for us to get back into the thick of it."

"I know, but we can't do that to Umi-chan. And also, let's try to leave her alone. Going to her house and reminding her that Muse needs her is a little too much. The reason why she's locked up is because it has something to do with Muse so let's leave it alone for now."

"Well, what should we do?" That was when Eli didn't know what to say. She suddenly took a seat and looked at the ground. Then, Nozomi stood up from her chair and took over the meeting.

"We need to remain strong. I know we're all sad and Umi-chan's sad too. Let's let her know that we're there for her. Just stop by her house every so often and say hi. That's the least we can do." Eli suddenly looked up at Nozomi who had a smile on her face. "Eventually it'll work. I'm sure of it." Suddenly, the bell rang to go to class as everyone grabbed their things and made their way out of the room. Eli did the same thing, but Nozomi grabbed her arm before she could. "Eli-chi, could you meet me here after school? I need to talk to you."

"Can't we just do it now?"

"There's not enough time. We can't miss class. Just please come here after school."

"Okay." She left the room with a sad look on her face. Nozomi watched her leave and could feel pain in her heart. She pressed her hand against her chest and looked down on the table. It was her stack of cards. She pulled the top card and looked it over. It was a picture of a forest with two paths that split right down the middle. On the bottom, there was the word "Sacrifice." She took a deep breath for she knew what she had to do.

For the rest of the day, Nozomi was very quiet. She kept to herself. Thankfully, no one approached her which made things a lot easier. It felt like the day went on forever, but when school finally ended, she quickly made her way to the club room where Eli was already there waiting for her.

"Eli-chi, you're here early."

"Well, you said to meet you here after school so I'm here. What was it wanted to talk about?" Nozomi dropped her bag on the table and walked over to Eli.

"I wanted to talk about us." Suddenly, Eli pushed her hand against Nozomi's chest and tried to walk away.

"I'm sorry Nozomi. I can't do this. We'll talk about this another time." However, Nozomi was persistent. She held onto Eli's hand prevented her from leaving.

"No, it's not about that. It's different." Eli remained facing away from her, but as she calmly stood there, she realized that her tone was a little different. It was serious and honest so she turned around and put her bag on the table.

"So what is it then?"

"We've been together for a long time now and I know everything about you. I was always there for you when you were sad or lonely and you were always there for me when I needed help. As time went on, I started to feel something in my heart. I couldn't bring myself to find out what it was because I was afraid of the truth. Now, I know what that feeling means. After all of this time, I finally know what it is and I think I should tell you what it is." Nozomi suddenly grabbed Eli's other hand. Unfortunately, Eli knew where this was going so she turned her head.

"Nozomi, I…"

"You're my best friend and will always be my best friend." Eli's shot wide open. "And best friends are supposed to do whatever they can to make each other happy. I've been dishonest with myself lately. I thought you would be the one to make me happy, but in the end, seeing you happy was what I wanted most. I love you Eli-chi, but you love Umi-chan. Please, for your sake, go after her. She can make you happy and that's all I want for you."

"Nozomi-chan, I…"

"You don't need to say anything. I understand. Umi-chan's a lucky girl. I just hope she understands that soon. Now get out of here." She walked her to the door and pushed her out.

"Nozomi?"

"Go on. There's someone waiting for you," she said with a smile.

"Thank you. I love you too." Forgetting everything else in the world, Eli ran through the halls and exited the school as fast as she could. Once she disappeared from sight, Nozomi grabbed their things and put Eli's stuff in her locker. Before she could leave, a voice came out from behind her.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Nozomi smiled as a tear ran down her face.

"Of course. Eli-chi's happiness is the most important thing in this world to me. Even if I can't be with her, I'd want her to be happy."

"Did your cards tell you that?"

"Yes, but I made the decision on my own." She turned around and suddenly fell into Nico's body. "Nicocchi!" She was a little caught off guard, but quickly wrapped her arms around Nozomi.

"It's alright. Everything will alright."

"I know. We all have to sacrifice something in our lives."

End of Chapter 10


	11. Chapter 11

My Secret Lover

Chapter 11

Nozomi

… One day earlier…

Nozomi headed home after witnessing what happened between Eli and Umi. However, she couldn't let this sit. She quickly looked around and found a hiding spot. She watched as Eli walked by in sadness. Seeing her like this nearly made her tear up as well. Unfortunately, she couldn't afford to be weak. She had to be strong for Eli and everyone else. Once she left, she made her way back to Umi's house. She knocked on the door and asked if she could talk with her. Out of nowhere, the door unlocked and opened. Nozomi was completely surprised this was happening. She slowly peeked into the house and saw Umi walk into the living room. She walked in and followed Umi. She made her way to the living room and sat right across from her.

"Hi Umi, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to talk to you. I've been worried about you."

"Look, Eli just came by. If you're quick enough, you can still catch her. I think she needs someone to be with her right now."

"I know. That's why I'm here. I need to talk to you about that."

"What are you talking about?" Nozomi took a deep breath before starting her story.

"I love Eli-chi, more than anything else." Immediately, she could tell that Umi wasn't interested in hearing this so she had to move quickly. "But I know that there's someone else she loves. It's you." Umi raised her head in interest. "All of this time, I thought I was the only one for Eli-chi. That mentality kept me from realizing the truth around me. When she met you, she was immediately starstruck. She always talked about you and how caring you were. Every time I tried changing the subject, it would eventually come back to you. This made me feel jealous. I felt like she was being taken away from me. I was afraid that that was happening so I started to throw myself on her as this whole thing about our fan's favorite couples."

"Nozomi, why are you telling me this?"

"Because Eli-chi doesn't love me. I know that now. I should have figured that earlier, but I was too blinded by my own selfish desires to see it. She loves you. You make her happy and I know that she makes you happy. I guess what I'm trying to say is that she's yours. I don't want to stop you from loving her. She belongs to you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I've known Eli-chi for a long time now and I've always been there for her, but eventually, I started to realize that that was it. I needed to be there for her, but I could never be with her. I'm her best friend and her best friend could never be in love with her. That's why she loves you. You've made an impact on her life. An impact that could never do. I just want Eli-chi to be happy. I don't want to see either of you like this so I will support you two in anything you do." She suddenly rose to her feet and grabbed her bag. "I'm sorry for bothering you. I'll be leaving now." Nozomi made her way to the front door when she was stopped by Umi's voice.

"Wait! Hold on." Nozmi stopped right at the door and turned around to see Umi holding a piece of paper towards her. "Could you give this Eli when you see her?"

"Of course." She turned around and tried to leave when Umi stopped her once more.

"And Nozomi… Thank you." A smile appeared on her face as she made her way home. This was her plan and she was going to follow it through to the end. All that was left was Eli, and that was definitely going to be the hardest part.

… Current day…

Nozomi handed her note. It was the same one that Umi asked her to hand to Eli. She read it and quickly developed a smile on her face. It was from Umi.

"Now get out of here. There's someone waiting for you."

"Thank you Nozomi." Eli hugged her one last time before heading out on her own. Nozomi managed to catch her run off with a skip in her step. As she made her way out of the club room, she was halted by a familiar voice.

"Are you sure you did the right thing?"

"Sometimes, we all have to sacrifice something."

"Did your cards tell you that?"

"Yes, but it's up to me if I want to follow them. This time, I knew that it was the right thing to do. Eli-chi's happiness is the only thing that matters in this world." Nico came up behind her and put her hand on her shoulder.

"Are you going to be okay?" Nozomi bowed her head as one last tear escaped her eyes.

"Of course I will." She suddenly reached into her pocket and pulled out another card. She took a deep breath before reading the contents of it. When she turned it over, a smile emerged on her face which caught the attention of Nico.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. There's nothing to worry about." She left her hand fall down next to her leg which let Nico see what was on the card. It was a sunrise. She didn't know what it meant, but Nozomi did. It meant that things were turning around for them. A new day was upon them, allowing them to start over and make things right again.

…

Meanwhile, Eli ran as fast as she could until she made her way out of school. She had the note in her hand and her eyes straight ahead. She didn't know what was going to happen, but she did know that she was going to see Umi after so long. After a few minutes of running, she finally reached her destination. She looked down at her note which read, "Please meet me by the park after school today." She looked around, but didn't see Umi anymore. She was just probably really early. Getting this note from Umi got her really excited that she didn't want to waste any time.

For the first few minutes, she spent of her time wandering the park, hoping to see Umi make her way there with a smile on her face, but no such thing happened. As time went on, Eli decided to sit on the bench and wait. She didn't know why it was taking so long. Maybe it was her anxiety that was making things worse or maybe Umi was too afraid to show up which made this a waste of time. She waited a few minutes for Umi to show up, but she didn't. She sighed in sadness and stood up.

"Eli." Eli's eyes suddenly widened as she turned around slowly to see Emu standing next to a tree. "Thank you for coming." She was speechless. How long as she been there? "I'm sorry for not showing myself earlier. This is all my fault.

"Umi."

End of Chapter 11


	12. Chapter 12

My Secret Lover

Chapter 12

Lovers in Harmony

**Note: **Well, here it is. The finale to the story. I hope you've all enjoyed this story and it's been a pleasure writing this for you all. Please be sure to leave comment to let me know how I did. You're guys' feedback, good or bad, always lets me know what I can do in the future. Anyway, without further ado, I hope you enjoy.

"Umi-chan, how long have you been standing there?"

"I'm sorry. I was afraid I wouldn't have the courage to face you again." Eli slowly made her way over to Umi was still a little hesitant. Eli saw this and tried to let her calm down. She close enough to where Umi was comfortable, but to where she could get a good look at her.

"I've been so worried about you."

"I know. It's just…"

"It's okay. You don't need to explain. I completely understand." Umi raised her head and looked at Eli. At that moment, she took another step forward.

"I was just afraid of what would happen to us. I thought that we couldn't be together because of what other people thought of us."

"Who cares about them? Your happiness is the most important thing. You can't always think about the way people see you."

"I know. It took me a while to realize that." Eli took another step forward.

"Me too. Something inside me just knew that you were the only one for me, and that I couldn't go on without you." Umi widened her eyes and turned away. 

"But what if this doesn't work? What if this causes our school to become a turn away? It'll be all my fault. I don't think I could handle that kind of responsible. I love this school. I want as many people to enjoy it as possible so…" Out of nowhere, Eli put her hands on Umi's cheeks and kissed her on the lips. She couldn't finish her sentence, but that didn't matter anymore. Eli's gentle touch took her to heaven, making her forget all of her problems and worries. She eventually gripped Eli's back and pulled her in even closer as they continued to kiss.

The stars were aligned at this moment. The whole world stopped. Umi wanted this moment to last forever and Eli just wanted to be with her for as long as she could. Once they started to run out of breath, Eli broke away and looked her in the eyes.

"Umi-chan, I love you, and no matter what. I will be with you. You won't have to carry that burden alone anymore." She grabbed her hand and kissed it. "I won't abandon you and I can promise you this: Our school isn't going anywhere." Those final words sold it for her. Tears started to form in her eyes as she melted into Eli's body. "I love you. Nothing will ever change that."

"I love you too," she said as she tried to fight back the tears.

…

The next day came around and Eli asked everyone to immediately go to the club room. It was kind of odd since they never did anything like that this early in the day. It was obviously something important so they quickly made their way there and waited for Eli to arrive. When she did, they couldn't believe their eyes. She and Umi walked in together and everyone jumped out of their seats and hugged them. They were so happy to see the two of them together, especially Umi since she's been absent for the past few days. On the other hand, Nozomi was a little quiet. She didn't really get involved in this little reunion, but tried to put on a smile for everyone. After that was over, they returned to their seats and waited to hear what Eli had to say.

"Alright, thank you everyone for coming on such short notice. I wanted to talk to you about something." They all listened intensively. "Because of what happened at that press conference, I'm pretty sure everyone wants to know what happened with Muse. And I think I have a solution. We're gonna hold a concert, today." Everyone nearly fell out of their seats.

"Today, are you kidding me?!"

"No, Umi and I have planned out everything." They reach into their bags and pulled out a whole bunch of fliers for the event. "We need to go around the school and the city and post these up in as many places as we can. If we do this, everything will clear up and we won't have to worry anymore." They all stood up from their chairs and grabbed the fliers.

"Alright, let's go!" Honoka pumped her fist and was the first one to leave the room. Everyone else followed behind her, super excited for what they were planning. Once everyone left, Nozomi and Eli were the last ones out. Nozomi grabbed her share of the fliers and started to walk out when Eli grabbed her by the wrist and kissed her on the cheek.

"Thank you, Nozomi. I couldn't have asked for a better friend." This caused her to raise her head and when she did, she saw such a bright smile on her face that she couldn't help but return the gesture.

"Eli-chi?"

"I love you, Nozomi." She let go of her wrist and ran out the room to post up the fliers. Nozomi was still a little stunned by this to where she brought up her hand to touch her cheek. It was still warm and for some reason, this brought tears to her eyes. However, they weren't tears of sadness, but of joy. Happy Eli was the best Eli, and now, she knew she did her job correctly.

For the next few hours, the girls went everywhere, advertising their concert. They ran through the halls of the school and everywhere else, making sure that all of the students heard about it. Once that was over, they left school and made their way into town. They posted up their fliers in all of the popular areas. They occasionally passed by some people walking through the streets to let them know that they were holding a concert. Surprisingly, some of them knew who Muse was and said that they were excited to attend another concert. Their plan was working. Everyone was taking notice of this impromptu event and all of them were excited for what was to come since Eli and Umi were the only ones who planned this out.

Once that part was done, they headed back to the school and prepared for the concert. They decided that it would be best to do it outside so Eli told them about the decorations and everyone immediately got on it. Meanwhile, Umi told the others what songs they'd be performing and what outfits they'd be wearing. It was best that they stayed with something they've already worn since it would be too much for Kotori to try and make something new. As for the songs, they chose some of the crowds' favorites. All that was left was to wait until the concert started.

…

The front of the school immediately started to pile up with tons of fans. They were all excited to see Muse once again after their little fiasco that caused them to go silent for a few weeks. Of course, the shipping fans arrived, but Muse tried their best to flood them out of their minds. There was a reason they were holding this concert and they were determined to see through it to the very end.

Once it was show time, the lights around the stage went black and some of the spotlights that the school provided started to shine to the sky. At that moment, Muse ran out on stage and performed "Wonder Zone" as their opening song. Surprisingly, everyone cheered as loud as they could without a care in the world and neither did the girls of Muse. They all looked happy and ready to give their fans another performance to remember. After their first song was done, they stood staring into their audience as they started to chant their names and other things that fans usually do. At that moment, Umi walked out in front of the group and made an announcement.

"First off, I'd like to thank everyone for coming out tonight. This wasn't planned and I'm just so thankful that you guys care us this much to show your support."

"You're the best Umi!" She couldn't help but laugh at the random comment from the crowd.

"However, there was a reason why we had this concert. About a week ago, we had a press conference in which things didn't really go according to plan." That's when the normal fans got quiet and the shipping fans started to get a little rowdy. "But I'm here to clear the air." Umi walked over to Eli and grabbed her hand. Everyone else didn't know this was going to happen so they were just as interested as the people watching. "I love Eli. I know that goes against what you guys believe, but I can't lie to my own heart. I hope you guys can understand. I love her." Without saying another word, the two of them kissed which caused an immediate response. They could hear the sounds of signs dropping the floor as everyone cheered. When they broke their kiss, they heard screams from everywhere.

"We don't care about that anymore!"

"As long as you're happy!"

"We love all of you!"

It worked. Their plan worked. The rest of Muse walked up to them and held each other's hands. They all gave each other a smile as the next song started to play. It may seem odd, but this was a true happy ending, not just for Umi and Eli, but for Nozomi would longed to find a way to make her best friend the happiest person alive.

The End

**Ending Note:** Thank you all so much for reading this story. I hope you all enjoyed it and I promise that there's more on the way.


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